Cranberries Anyone?

Happy Monday!
My friends have been asking for me to post some recipes, which I had the intention of doing at some point but was waiting til I could put pictures up with them so you could see the product throughout the cooking process. Who am I to say no to the masses though? Just keep in mind that while this post isn't filled with mouth-watering pictures, future ones will be.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I take great pride in cooking. I spent fifteen years in the food and service industry. Mostly fine dining with a short stint in family restaurant management. I have worked every position in a restaurant from hostess to manager and salads to desserts. Banquets of three hundred to private dinners for two. All of that has fueled my love of cooking. My grandfather was the cook in the family and I remember watching him bring everyone together at the dinner table. Differences put aside to overdose on mashed potatoes. I wanted that power. The power to stop the bickering and make them smile. Food seems to do that.
I start out every meal with an ingredient that sounds good and go from there. Such as with Thanksgiving, I dislike cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and sweet potatoes. My family always served the sauce from the can and the potatoes with marshmallows or brown sugar and butter. The dilemma is those flavors go hand and hand with Thanksgiving. So I started searching for recipes with those ingredients but changed up. I've found a cranberry chutney, pumpkin cheesecake, and whipped sweet potatoes and bananas to replace the traditional fare. Today I thought I'd share the chutney.

Cranberry Chutney
1 orange, peeled and chopped (tough membrane removed)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 package fresh cranberries (12 oz)
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 large Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tbls apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes or until cranberries burst.

This is a great, easy recipe. The hardest part is the orange. If you peel the orange and cut the sections out even that is pretty simple. I like mine warm but it's wonderful cold too. You can make this ahead of time as well, and pull it out at serving time. Has a lovely aroma and really gives the impression of "home-made" with very little effort actually involved.
If you try this one out let me know how it was received at your dinner table. Did you make any alterations to it? Love to hear feedback!